Achromatic
by Swallowed By The Seas
Summary: After an accident on Mako Island, Lewis and Will throw themselves into the heart of Tropical Storm Anna to rescue Cleo's father. Meanwhile, with the threat of eviction looming over her head, Rikki has to make a tough decision and Emma returns with exciting news — but not before Sophie and Kim discover there is more to the Gold Coast than meets the eye. Set just after Graduation.
1. Prologue

achromatic (ˌækrəˈmætɪk)  
-adj  
1\. without colour.  
"The day held an achromatic gloom."

[0] Prologue

Tonight was the night Will was going jump into the Moon Pool in a desperate attempt to get a tail of his own, and a thousand different outcomes were racing through Rikki's head.

She imagined the phone call she was most likely going to get in the morning when Will awoke, fully human and disappointed beyond belief. She imagined Will getting his wish and, by some miracle, growing a tail. She imagined Will submerged in the Moon Pool, illuminated by moonlight, the water still as a stone — no trace of magic left. There were a thousand and one different ways the night could've ended. . .

Lewis was never supposed to be part of the equation. He was supposed to be back at his apartment, working on that stupid research paper he was so obsessed with.

Not here. Not with her and Will.

Rikki's first thought when Lewis came tumbling into the cave was that something must have happened with Bella and Cleo, because why else would he be there? —but there was something about the look on Lewis's face that told Rikki this had nothing to do with Bella and Cleo. It was a gut feeling, more than anything, that told her this was a personal matter.

"What the hell are you two doing out here?" Lewis asked, exasperated. "Are you _looking_ for trouble? Seriously? Have you forgotten that tonight is the full moon?"

Rikki folded her arms across her chest. "We're handling ourselves just fine, Lewis."

"What are you doing?" Lewis asked again, persistent.

"I want to be like them." Will said, the desperation clear in his voice.

Lewis blinked, the information not quite registering. "Like them?"

"A mermaid." Rikki said. "Well, merman, I guess."

Lewis knitted his eyebrows together and looked at Will in disbelief. "You can't be serious."

Will nodded. "Completely."

"You're going to have to live in fear for the rest of your life, Will." Lewis said, taking a step toward Will. "Fear of your secret being found out, fear of getting wet — fear of the _rain_ , Will. You can never enter another diving competition. You can never swim with your sister again. You're going to have to lie to your family and to your friends for the rest of your life. I get that the whole merperson thing is appealing, I do, but, seriously? You can't really be considering this."

"I _do not_ live in fear. I can take care of myself, Lewis. It isn't that hard to avoid water." Rikki said, defensive, despite the fact she knew she was lying. Water was everywhere, the threat of exposure looming constantly over her like an ominous presence, but she couldn't let Lewis know that. "Me and Bella and Cleo have done just fine so far. Without your help, might I add."

Lewis laughed, dry and humourless. "Oh really? I can't count the times I've had to come rescue you and the girls because you nearly got yourself caught! Dr. Denman? Does that name ring a bell? Jesus fuck, and now you're trying to pull Will into this mess too? That isn't fair, Rikki. Not to Will. Don't let him do this."

"Hello? Still here!" Will said, gesturing with his hands to get Lewis and Rikki's attention. "I know everything I'm risking, Lewis. But I've been thinking about this for weeks, okay? I've made my decision. I want to be like them."

"You heard him," Rikki said, voice clipped. "So you can leave now."

Lewis shook his head. "No, I'm not leaving." He looked back at Will. "Will, listen to me. For almost four years now I've had to watch their backs. We've had more close calls than I can remember. Don't do this to yourself."

A sliver of moonlight suddenly beamed down from above, causing the Moon Pool to start bubbling.

"It's almost time." Rikki said.

Will's heart raced, threatening to beat right out of his chest. "What do I do?"

Rikki inhaled a shaky breath, nervous. It was now or never. "Just jump in. Go, now!"

What happened next seemed to go in slow motion.

Will took a step back in preparation to dive, but before he could leap into the water Lewis grabbed his arm and yanked him backward. Will twisted in his grip and tried to push him off, but Lewis was stronger — stouter — than he looked. The two grappled for a moment before Will's sandal slid against the slick rock and out from underneath him — - sending the both of them sailing into the bubbling Moon Pool.

* * *

 **a/n:** chapter written by _when the tide comes in.  
_ oh, and a quick note: **this is not a rewrite.** mimmie and myself have decided to change the story completely.  
leave your thoughts in a review, please. :)


	2. Chapter One

[1] Chapter One

The sky was the darkest shade of gray and it seemed to be preparing for one of the biggest storms that was going to hit the Gold Coast.

The colors of the day had suddenly disappeared leaving everything completely achromatic. The rusty clouds on the sky, the pitch black sea, everything looked dark and gray and seemed to have lost its bright colors and usual shine. All was in the different shades of white, black and rusty grey. There was no blue or yellow. Not even green or red. They were all gone.

One slim figure jumped in the water, disappearing underneath without being noticed. She sped through the waves and in a matter of seconds swam up to her private place. Even being the wreckage it now was, it still meant everything for her. After her ex-boyfriend, her best friend's greedy sister and a maniac obsessed with rocks had blown it up because of their stupid gold rush (or in the case crystal rush) she was going there almost every evening to clean it up. That particular evening however her reason of going there had nothing to do with the place itself.

It was a moment she never thought would happen. She knew it would come but she never thought it would happen so soon. Nobody ever expects changes to happen. Nobody ever expects bad times to come. She had avoided being negative for a long time but she knew the moment has come. Her head was telling her that she needs to be tough and put her foot down. Her heart was screaming at her head to shut up.

Just the thought of going with her father and leaving everything behind was making her blood boil not with anger but with frustration. She was always her own person and she never thought she'd meet anyone who'd care for her the way those few people she now called 'best friends' did. It wasn't as if she depended on them or anything. She wasn't going to be heartbroken if she decided to leave them behind. She'd used to live in loneliness for so long that it had become a part of her to the point she had learnt to love it in a sick and twisted kind of way.

The curly blond couldn't care less about leaving the town and going to the next one.

But she cared for _them_. She cared how they would feel. And she doubted she'd ever be prepared to see their reaction when they hear about her dad's ultimatum. Because once they found out, _they_ would be the heartbroken ones.

Her mind took her back to when her dad had hit her with the news.

She stood there frozen, waiting for her mind to slowly take form. Everything seemed to be happening at an extremely slow rate. She felt herself trying to balance it out. It didn't seem even by that time and it absolutely didn't seem right. She finally got it after what seemed like forever but she was still frozen like a statue. It felt to her as if she was going through the motions but her heart really wasn't in it. Her pulse quickened. Her hands began to shook because of her powers suddenly starting to bubble in them. She couldn't complete it. She couldn't even start it. Her father waited for her answer to the question he had just asked her. She heard herself responding to him but she wasn't really thinking straight still trying to make out what was happening.

Was she clear in her decision?

She couldn't have been clear. She didn't even understand it herself. She probably was unclear and to get mad at him after she was unclear would just be unfair. She had to be tough. She had to be strong. She'd just do it and get it done with. She'd stick to her guns even if it does come back to shoot her in the foot. It was then when she took a deep breath and listened to her heart. Because she knew it was the right thing to do.

Then the blond had run out of home and swam in the pool of water that was her favourite place to escape. She needed the peace and the silence of this place. She needed the air. She needed..the freedom.

"Hey, Rikki."

The sound coming from behind her made her spun around and she realized she was facing the worried face of her brunette friend smiling softly at her.

"Is everything ok?"

"It's fine." The curly blond answered shortly, not in the mood for being polite to anyone. Even Cleo.

"You know you can tell me anything, right?!" Her friend sounded worried about her and that's what was driving her mad.

She didn't want Cleo to care about her so much. She didn't want and most of all she didn't need _anyone_ to care about her that much.

"I'm fine, stop worrying." She turned her back to Cleo, avoiding her look.

"I wish you could just talk to me." Cleo's words stabbed her like a knife.

"Look, my problems are mine, ok? My own!"

Rikki didn't mean to sound that harsh, but she couldn't stop herself in time. A heavy sigh escaped her lips before she spun around again to look at the face of her best friend.

For a few seconds no one said anything.

"Look, I want you and Bella to meet me with the others tomorrow morrning at the cafe. And I can assure you won't be complaining that I don't talk with you anymore."

Barely finished the sentence Rikki dived in the water before Cleo could even open her mouth to say anything and swam away. The brunette only stared sadly at the small waves left by her best friend. She had a bad feeling about the next day and could only hope she was wrong.

The morning came fast. The sky was still covered with the same black clouds from the previous day. Everything was again colored in the various shades of grey.

At the local cafe called ' _Rikki's_ ' the colors of the day didn't seem much brighter.

"So what are you saying?!'' Bella asked, not really sure she was getting Rikki the way the curly blond excpected.

"I'm saying that.."

"That you might have to leave us?!" Cleo's voice sounded full of hurt when she interrupted her to finish her sentence.

"No. Look, he told me I have a choice. I can go with him or stay here." The curly blond explained impatiently.

"And what did you say?" Bella questioned again.

"I told him that it's a serious decision to make and I need some time to think about it."

"You can't be seriously thinking to go, can you?!" The brunette tried to keep her voice calm but her eyes blurred full of mist and wetness.

"Cleo, if I stay here I won't have a place to live." Rikki didn't get how Cleo couldn't understand how serious her situation was.

"But-" The brunette began unsure of how to express her sadness and how to plead her friend to stay.

"But I'll think about it, ok?!" The curly blond didn't have the heart to crash her friend's hopes.

Cleo looked defeated, but only wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Ok." The brunette nodded and before she looked away trying to hold back the tears she looked right into Rikki's eyes; brown in blue.

"But I just want you to know that whatever you decide you're like my sister, Rikki. Hell you _are_ my sister, even more then Kim who's my blood and I..well you know what we went through when Emma told us her news. And you should know that I'm going to miss you just as much as we missed her when she left."

When Cleo finished her little speech silence took on the table. Everybody was speechless not knowing what to say to comfort the other. The only thing everyone knew however was that nobody wanted Rikki to go away from them.

Will was the first one to speak up after a while, breaking the weird silence.

"If you want to stay at the Coast you can always come to live with me at the boatshed. It's not very big but it's better than if you decide to live in a hotel."

"Will, you barely have a room for yourself there. There's no way we can fit in both of us. Thank you for the offer, but I'll have to say no." The curly blond shooted the said boy a somber knowing smile with the corners of her mouth.

"Why don't you crash at my place? The apartment is big and has enough room. You can stay until you save some money and find something suitable for yourself. Just…think about it."

Rikki looked at him, eyebrows lifted high in confusion.

"What? To live with you?! No way, Lewis!"

"I don't see where's the problem." The blond shrugged. "It's not for ever."

"Are you kidding me?"

"Actually I don't think that's such a bad idea." Bella said shooting a wide smile to both Lewis and Rikki.

It was something in Lewis' words that made Cleo spun around and look at him in a way she never had before. The brunette grabbed his wrist and after they stood up from the table she dragged him further so the others couldn't hear their conversation.

"What do you think you're doing Lewis?" She questioned bitterly.

"What do you mean?"

"Asking Rikki to live with you?!"

"Cleo, I don't understand what you're on about but Rikki's our best friend and we can't leave her on the streets!" To say the boy was shocked by his girlfriend's question was an understatement.

"I get that but to ask her to live with you?!" The brunette couldn't understand why her boyfriend didn't get her point.

"It was the best I could think of. My place is big and there's enough room."

"Yes, but still -"

"Cleo, what is the real problem?" Lewis sounded annoyed.

He knew his girlfriend too well and could clearly see something was bothering her. She looked at him her eyes glowing with strange light he hadn't seen before.

"The problem is that beside our best friend she..she's also a _woman_ , alright?!"

It was then when Lewis finally understood. He tried his best to keep himself from bursting in laughter.

"Cleo, did you really think that I can ever look on Rikki that way?"

The girl in question leaned her head down and red color rushed to her cheeks.

"Listen, I don't know what's gotten into you, but Rikki's one of our best friends and you're my girlfriend. I have eyes only for you! I can never look on Rikki as a woman!" The last one was a lie.

Lewis _did_ look on Rikki as a woman, more than once actually.

It was impossible not to look on Rikki Chadwick as a woman. Yes, she had more of a guy's character and style than of lady's one, but she was sexy and passionate and fiery and was all in all a _hell_ of a woman. That was actually one of the reasons why when they were still together Zane was so jealous of everyone who even dared to look at her not to mention talk to her. He knew for fact that almost all of the guys on the Gold Coast had a secret fantasy about her and that's why he was so overprotective. He however was completely unaware of the fact that Lewis himself was one of those guys.

Cleo though seemed to be convinced by her boyfriend's words.

"You're right. I'm so sorry, Lewis. I just-"

"Hey, it's ok." He leaned to give her a kiss. "Just put more of your trust in me."

And they walked back to the table.

"So, about my offer?" Lewis asked Rikki while sitting down, before anyone else could question what Cleo and he had talked about.

"You mean you're serious about this?" The curly blond lifted her eyebrows high.

"Totaly."

"Lewis, we can barely last one minute without making fun of each other and without offending the other. If I stay here and if I agree to live with you even for only a few days I bet whatever you want that on the second day we'll set the apartment on fire. Ot at least I will. That's only if you don't throw me out before that, of course." She looked straight at his eyes rolling hers. "What I mean is we're just...too different and there's no way we can live together without starting a war."

Lewis only shook his head with a smirk on his face.

"Have it your way then. But just know that if you change your mind, my offer is always on."

"I won't change my mind, Lewis."

"Look, I'm just saying that-"

"Whatever." Rikki interrupted him impatiently and sighed annoyed. "I have to go now. I'll see you guys later."

With that the curly blond stood off the table and walked away. The group remained silent for a few minutes.

"Do you think she might..you know..actually leave?" Bella asked quietly scared to even think of it as a possibility.

"I think she has more than billion reasons to stay but that's Rikki we're talking about here." Lewis answered absent-mindedly. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see."

"You know what, I have to go too. I'll see you around." Cleo stood and quickly walked out of the cafe.

"Is she alright?" Bella asked Lewis concerned staring after her brunette friend.

"To be honest, I have no idea." He said. "All I know is that Rikki's news really shook her up. And no wonder; first our friend Emma left to travel around the world, then I went off to America to study, and now _this_. I can't imagine how she's feeling."

"Poor Cleo." Bella said. "I have no idea what I'd do if I had to go through something like this."

"I'll go and talk to her, but I want to give her few moments alone." Lewis said, sighing slightly to himself. It took everything not to hurry after the her but he knew she probably wanted to be left alone.

"I have to go back to work." Bella said noticing Nate was motioning her to go on stage.

"And I'll go out for a quick dive." Will said while giving Bella an absent-minded kiss on the lips.

Bella marched to the stage, Will walked out of the cafe and Lewis was left alone on the table.

His mind ran through the last events of that morning. He had actually asked the most rebellious person probably in the whole Australia, Rikki Chadwick, to live in his apartment. If there was one thing he was absolutely sure of, it was that nothing good would come out of sharing his place with someone as fiery as her. In fact only bad stuff were bound to happen.

That was of course only if she decided to take him up on his offer. Which he highly doubted she'd ever do.

* * *

 **a/n:** chapter one written by _mermaidbyheart._


End file.
